⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.

Straightforward as this verse seems to be, to the Greek reader the contrast is much more stark. The name Joshua is a Hebrew name and corresponds to the Greek name Jesus. Much like “Carlos” in Spanish corresponds to the English “Charles.” What is particularly noteworthy, the Greek manuscript of this passage actually uses the name “Jesus” here. All English translations render it as “Joshua” to make clear that the Old Testament leader was in view.

But this makes the contrast sharper. The former “Jesus” did not bring Israel into the rest of God, but the latter “Jesus” came to make that happen. This is similar to when Paul writes, “So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor 15:45).

So, Jesus is not only superior to the angels, not only is He superior to Moses, but He is also superior to Joshua, the great leader who brought the Hebrew people into the Promised Land, something even Moses was not able to accomplish. However great that was to bring God’s people physically into the land, it still did not accomplish the ultimate purpose of God in Israel, namely to give them “rest.”

Indeed, from the word “go,” Israel struggled in the land. Early on they allowed themselves to be tricked into allowing the Gibeonites to remain in the land (Joshua 9). The tribe of Judah was unable to drive out the Jebusites (15:63). Ephraim was could not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer (16:10). Those people and others became snares in the existence of Israel in the land. Joshua had warned them, “… know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you” (Joshua 12:13). And in fact, despite the eventual, glorious years of David, the people strayed from God through intermarriage with pagans and idolatrous worship of false gods, and were removed from the land into what we call the Babylonian/Assyrian captivity. By the time of Jesus, the people had been physically restored from their captivity and were now back living in the Promised Land. But, even then they had not yet found their rest.

Christ came to give them rest. But it required something better than what angels, Moses or Joshua could provide.